


A Song Of Steam and Snow

by HarlequinR



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Frostpunk (Video Game)
Genre: ISOT, Slow Build, Steampunk, Victorian Attitudes, Wildling Culture & Customs, Worldbuilding, free folk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2019-10-05 12:44:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17325236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarlequinR/pseuds/HarlequinR
Summary: The City comes through the Blizzard, but not quiet where it started.





	1. Passing of the Storm

Dr J has served this city well and been a good and even friend for longer still, but God forgive me I thought he had truly lost his wits when he spoke to me this morning. Now I am forced to face the thought that it is I who have taken leave of my senses, for how can my eyes show me what cannot possibly be so?  
_Gov-Cpt. Alexander Dazelle, diary entry, 3/11/1890_  
  
New Edinburgh had survived four years when the Great Storm was forecast. That month's warning was barely enough.  
  
Established originally as a basecamp for more northerly sites being accessed and prepared, later discoveries of deep anthracite seams and scattered iron ore deposits saw it earmarked for the site of a steam generator itself. This would be sped up in the Long Winter of 1884, as with many sites, when the Royal Society presented Parliament with their evidence on the predicted extreme that global cooling would reach.  
  
Well funded by private backers from scottish industrial and financial circles on top of the assigned Home Office budget, the original settlers would still face numerous challenges in only the opening months of their departure, with a portion becoming separated and lost in a blizzard while en route. Exposed coal deposits were limited and working conditions harsh by necessity in this period, representing the first meaningful challenge to the Governor-Captain's leadership and the population's resolve. Proper mining operations would be established before these supplies ran out, and their later expansion would be the city's principle lifeline going forward, but the close call was never forgotten. The transition from temporary shelters to proper streets and buildings, based on the Swiss Model designs, slowly matched the change from desperate survivors to established community and the founding of several ongoing institutions and novel social practices. By 1988 the situation was favourable that Christmas could be celebrated, for many of the children present it was the first they had known.  
  
As they adapted to the necessities of this new way of life, the first weather beacon was raised and scouting parties established, hailed as heroes after the successful rescue of the lost settlers and developing an esprit de corps that was the model for future organisations. Further expeditions would become the stuff of adventure stories for those who remained in the safety of the city, from the discovery of the Lost Convoy to the mapping of navigable routes for outposts that would provide much needed lumber and fuel. Contact would be made almost two years to the day after the generator was fired with a similar party from Winterhome, the nearest sister-city to New Edinburgh, bringing much cheer when it was announced.  
  
The scientists and engineers from the Royal society and the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow that accompanied the settlers were no more idle than their labouring counterparts, making significant contributions to the wellbeing of the city and its inhabitants with their work. The expansion of the generator's output and efficiency helped counter the worst effects of the low temperatures, and conduits to pipe the superheated steam to individual buildings were a milestone event for the miners and foundry workers. The recovery and repair of an automaton from the hulk of a beached Royal Navy transport would go down as their finest pre-storm achievement, the study of the rare device providing inspiration for a number of improvements to various pieces of industrial machinery. Some among their number even proposed that they could build their own one day.  
  
Continued deterioration of the weather eventually forced a confrontation with the breakaway London Group, who lobbied for the abandonment of the city and the trek to larger New London in the north. After being turned down unequivocally by the Governor-Captain, the group moved to public demonstrations and acts of petty theft or vandalism, creating a dangerous mix of uncertainty and disruption. Events reached a head when nearly a score of diehard members attempted to force the issue by sabotaging the steam conduit supplying the recently modernised southern coal mine, resulting in a running skirmish between them and the miners who chanced upon them. The temporary halt in operations turned public opinion against the group, many of who would leave shortly after, having stolen supplies and injuring several members of the constabulary in the process. Their fate remains unknown and little mourned.  
  
The Storm's forecast was a major blow to moral, compounded first by the lack of further contact with Winterhome, and then the arrival of refugees reporting the city’s fall into tyranny and then anarchy. A significant reconsideration of how well the city was able to stand up to the challenges nature was throwing at it in both official and public debate took place, alongside quieter thoughts on whether they could afford to stretch their resources thin enough to support the survivors under these circumstances. Not since the first arrival had the city seen the frenetic activity and punishing efforts that were put into place in those weeks. Double shifts became the norm day and night, rations were cut and the surrounding landscape scoured bare even as outposts and scouts made their way back home. Engineers prepared to block the safety cutoffs on the generator and overfire the boilers, regulating it by feel on the fine line between maximum output and catastrophic overload.  
  
For five weeks the sun was obscured, snow fell and temperatures plummeted. People were powerless to do anything but sit and wait. When the skies cleared it as though a miracle had occurred, indeed would later be made a public holiday once the city recovered. After the initial euphoria however, they counted the cost and surveyed the damage. Frostbite had claimed its share, malnutrition, pneumonia and other ills likewise. Suicides by those who could not stand the confinement, close packed company or feelings of hopelessness were mourned bitterly by those who had hung on. At the same time there was a growing feeling of, if not vindiction then rightly earned pride among the survivors. They had faced the worst and come through standing, wounded and weary yes, but not broken or bowed or given in to their worst natures.  
  
The first to notice that anything was amiss, in the greater scheme of things rather than in the specific, were the meteorologists scanning the sky from the newly raised beacon as night fell. Try as they might, and despite fixing the position of the pole star they could not find any of the familiar constellations in the heavens.


	2. Challenges Old & New

Yet our mission and purpose remains unchanged. The maintenance and continuation of civilisation in the face of the challenges of our age was never to be a task engaged in at leisure, as we have all learned from our shared trials and tribulations. We were never to start with a people who looked to others for our keeping, and have proved ourselves not only the right men and women for the job, but also the better ones for the aid and shelter we extended to our poorer fellows, who's original leadership was not up to the task.  
_From the Gov.Captain's address to the city, 14/1/1891_  
  
The changes to the layout of the heavens could hardly be hidden for the public, and word was already spreading like wildfire by the time the Governor-Captain was fully briefed on the situation. While there was no panic in the streets, the unease was palpable. Evening prayers were well and regularly attended, and morning meetings saw foremen pressed to seek out answers from those that might have them, creating considerable ques at the offices of both the Executive and Royal Society. A public notice was quickly put out to calm the growing fears and counter rumour mongering, stating that efforts were ongoing to unravel the mystery and, in less plain terms, that the stars in the sky were the last thing they should be worried about when there was a city in dire need of their efforts.  
  
Both parts were absolutely true. The scouts of the Pioneer Corps, to a man capable of sight navigation by sun, moon and star, were working hand in hand with the city's lone professional astronomer, and such others as were trained in the relevant fields and otherwise unoccupied, to map out the new arrangements and movements of the stars and planets. Comparison with the star maps at hand quickly showed no discernible correlation with the prior sky, even taking account of Dr Cumming's past antipidean observations. Long nights and weary evenings were spent tracking, plotting and compiling the observations made into useable tables, a process that would later help confirm a further and more serious problem.  
  
When not assisting with the astronomy dilemma, scouting parties were sent out to survey the vicinity in preparation for re-establishing the abandoned outposts. To their increasing concern they found that by a day's travel the terrain was unrecognisable, and distant landmarks and features wholly different from expectation. This was kept highly confidential out of the very real threat of panic if people were to discover that they were no longer even where the had once been without an adequate explanation at hand. Considerable time would be spent comparing day and night-time navigational measurements in an effort to fix the latitude and longitude that New Edinburgh now found itself at. This was however hampered by the repeated necessity of confirming increasingly basic assumptions, from the length of a day to the diameter of the world, some of which had to be calculated with frighteningly limited data at hand.  
  
While this discovery did render a great deal of their past work useless, it was taken with an impressive degree of stoicism by many members of the Corps, and those who took it badly were encouraged by their fellows to keep a stiff upper lip and not let the side down. Treks to map out the new landscape were authorized with haste, in part for the obvious need to know what was out there and to keep the number of people aware of the situation and inside the city to a minimum. A substantial mountain range was sighted to the far west and named the Victoria Mountains in honour of Her Majesty. The highest peaks would be used for triangulation purposes and as points of common reference between different mapping teams.  
  
On the home front, work was desperately needed to bring the city back to the state it had been before the storm hit. Clearing the snow drifts and icy buildup was by itself proving the single largest undertaking in the city's short history, and an essential one to bringing the coal mines back to full production. Injury and illness however, combined with the need to keep up the basic services required by the population limited the raw workforce available. New Edinburgh’s three automatons, the original _Iron Navvy_ and the home built _Steel Scotsman_ and _Strathclyde Clanker_ , were pressed into service and would both prove critical to the effort, as they filled, hauled and tipped a continuous train of wagons over the crater edge day and night. As the clearing teams advanced, engineers followed in their wake, assessing structures, pipes and steam conduits for necessary repairs or replacements. The office of Chief Engineer H. Lewis Alexander would resemble something of a triage station as he balanced the regularly shifting priorities list with the limited workforce at hand and materials available.  
  
Food supplies remained under careful and absolute rationing, one generator engineer being sentenced to 500 strikes of the lash for the theft of bread. To minimise the risk of the punishment being fatal, and to ensure that everyone in the city had the opportunity to see justice in action, the lashes were spread over period of days, with a recovery day in between. The hothouse gardens, decimated by the cold, were carefully tended back to use, but would take months before yielding their first crops. This left the sustenance of the city in the hands of the hunting and foraging parties who set to work with the full weight of New Edinburgh's survival on their shoulders. As had been expected there was little game or new growth to be had as yet, though ice fishing at a nearly frozen lake proved successful. The report of a distant sighting of what could be reindeer moving north was greeted with considerable rejoice by the lean framed population, and on the next Sunday an extra quarter ration was granted to celebrate the sign of better things to come.  
  
In the Offices of the Executive, answers were slowly coming together, uncanny though they might be. The Secretary of the Royal Society was able to determine their latitude as unchanged, but without a known reference point he recommended that the city be taken as the new prime meridian going forward, all findings understood to be subject to unavoidable margins for error given the circumstances. While unwilling to offer speculation on the cause of the city's repositioning, the limited observations so far suggested a territory not unlike the north canadian wilderness, or perhaps the siberian plains. The migration noted by the scouts on their southernmost journey would imply that the local winter was ending and that global cooling might not be so heavily entrenched here as they were used to, an idea he would not give assurances to until further research was undertaken. It was in fact the unanimous opinion of the Society's members that all available efforts should be made to expand the understanding and knowledge of this new land so that the city may make best use of it and avoid falling victim to unforeseen dangers or conditions.  
  
With the current luck that had allowed the full scope of the city's situation to be kept secret from the wider public impossible to count on in the long term, the Gov.Captain made the decision to announce the discovery to the public at large while he could still maintain the initiative against undesirable consequences. Already some were questioning the discrepancies noticed by the hunter-foragers in what they saw, and the risk of uncontrollable speculation was ever present. In many ways it was perhaps beneficial that the message was delivered in the midst of so much, and so all encompassing, labour on the people's part. There was shock, fear, even enough disorder to justify regular patrols on some streets for a few days, but it was presented at a point where the average citizen had only so much vigour left to expend worrying. Moral fell in the face of being perhaps the only people in this new world, but the degree to which the city's circumstances were understood varied somewhat, with a common idea making the rounds that the land they had built on had come loose and floated on the sea during the Storm, so that they were now in the americas or perhaps China, depending on the telling.


	3. Outward Bound

> Have decided to give JA the night off this watch, concerned that the wilderness may be affecting him somewhat. No sign or trace of the animal he claims to have seen.  
>  _John McRae field journal, 23/2/1891_  
>    
>  Previous fears unfounded with regards to JA’s wits. While clearly a mastodon, have decided not to press the issue given his good spirits over vindication of observations.  
>  _John McRae field journal, 1/5/1891_  
>    
>  The weather held clear for the most part over the following weeks, temperatures rarely dropping below minus thirty even on the worst nights, and the slow extension of each day's length was well received by both the city population and the scouting parties outside it. The Gov.Captain's scientific advisors were now happy to declare the approach of spring and optimistically predicted a mild, near-freezing, summer. Assuming a traditional progression of the seasons, Chief Huntsman Ian Morray felt there should be sufficient time to build up stores enough to avoid special rationing going forward.  
>    
>  Morray, like most of the men under him, was a gamekeeper by trade before joining the expedition, working on Highland estates. With their skills sharpened on the snowy waste surrounding the city, the appearance of a substantial herd of reindeer represented something of an easy time in comparison to previous years' work. While prudent enough not to simply scythe through the animals indiscriminately, and pleading for scouting teams to keep track of their migrations going forward, the hunters still maintained a steady flow of venison back to the city each day. Full rations were soon being served to much cheer and toasts to the huntsmen's good health, the excess being dried and smoked in a manner described by American refugees taken in during the early years. As the year progressed, the hothouses would start delivering potato, oat and other easily stored crops, alongside limes and similar defences against ill health.  
>    
>  The process of mapping out the New World progressed well at the same time, everything within a week's travel being sketched out before more focused investigations could be conducted. The river that ran half a days hike to the north was found to run between two substantial bodies of water, while to the far south east the permafrost blended into the edge of expansive taiga, provisionally named the Albert Forest. The foothills of the Victorias were plotted at the furthest westword observation alongside a handful of currently frozen streams.  
>    
>  Taking advantage of the fair weather conditions, the Royal Society and Pioneer Corps organised a joint expedition to points of local interest. Lead by geographer James Alexander and naturist John McRae, the group would spend four months moving in a rough spiral out from the city, resupplied by scouting teams who also retrieved notes and samples from them. In addition to adding extensive detail to the rough early maps, the team catalogued such wildlife as was encountered and took seedlings or cuttings from the local flora as the season progressed. Rock samples were gathered from potential mining sites, with a special eye for coal, iron and copper. While making sketches from the top of a prominent outcrop, Alexander became the first man from New Edinburgh to set eyes on a mammoth, though they remained unconfirmed for a further two months when an injured specimen was encountered in a crevasse. It was recorded as having a rich flavour but was somewhat tough, and likely would benefit from being left to hang for a period. Samples were also taken for further study.  
>    
>  In addition to its active investigations, the expedition was a testbed for new, or redesigned, equipment and practices that the Pioneer Corps aimed to implement for the purposes of dispatching long distance rangings in the future, and improve the overall success and survival rate of their missions. Two new harnesses for pulling sleds were trialed, along with a sled designed to run more smoothly over rough ground. Freeze dried rations were compared to smoke preserved, and dehydrated options. A range of one-off prototypes of the day to day equipment used were put through their paces, usually lighter, more easily stowed, or being multipurpose compared to the standard examples, performing with mixed results. More procedural tests took place on efficient packing of backpacks and sleds, camp organisation, a standardised shorthand for note taking, and trail markers for others to follow or be informed by.  
>    
>  The first practical benefits to come from these trials were felt by the men and women who travelled west to establish the Loch Dazelle Outpost. Located at the mouth of a significant tributary, this fishery would go on to be the most reliable food source the city possesed, yielding waterfowl and crayfish in addition to the trout that had originally made the location so attractive. Rather more distant than the old outposts had been built pre-Storm, it also grew to be larger and incorporated the means for a slightly more self-sufficient existence, though the effort and resources spent paid handsome dividends. The Pioneer Corps would go on to use it as a launch site for further exploration, and the increased number of people dispatched there would directly inspire the push for more efficient and less labour intensive industry within the city.  
>    
>  The outpost would also have a second, tragic, claim to fame which would colour all future expeditions, scouting teams and outposts. A month into full operation, one of the normal bi-weekly deliveries failed to arrive, and while not a critical blow to the city food supply it was concerning and after a further day with no sign of them, a group of scouts were dispatched to investigate and assist as needed. No trace of the missing haulers was found, and when the expected meeting with the following group was passed without sign, the team prepared for trouble ahead. As the settlement came into view the following day, it was revealed to be a site under siege.  
>    
>  A pack of wolves moved about the buildings, scraping and worrying at the sealed doors of the warehouse and homes. Larger by far than any wolf or hound the scouts had seen before and numbering at least a dozen, the animals looked to have already broken into at least one building and were readily taken as the cause of the hauliers disappearance. Careful to stay downwind and under as much cover as they could find, the scouts advanced with pistols drawn in an attempt to take the wolves by surprise but were noticed by one of the pack and forced to reveal themselves when it attacked. While lightly armed, the sound of gunfire startled the wolves, leaving them unsettled, and the scouts pressed the advantage while they could. Several shots were often required to kill the beasts, and once recovered from their surprise were quick and canny hunters that made good use of their natural skills, killing two of the scouts and wounding another before a band of the fisherfolk burst from one of the buildings with improvised weapons and helped slay the last of them.  
>    
>  When the scouts returned to New Edinburgh, acting as escort for the delayed delivery, they reported the events to the Gov.Captain and presented the body of one of the animals for study and as proof. Referred to as direwolves by the naturist that examined them, similar to fossilized remains he had seen during his student days, the presence of such a predator was cause for considerable alarm and paused many of the planned scouting missions. The best theory as to why they had not been encountered before lay in the recently ended winter, it being assumed that they had followed in the wake of the migrating reindeer herds. While adding an extra element of danger to journeys outside the crater wall, the need to do so was too great to be put off indefinitely, especially when the numbers and range of direwolf packs was still only speculation and gessuework. On the other hand, every group was now to carry an elephant gun in the hands of its best marksman, and it was made a matter of standing policy that the beasts should be killed wherever found. The pelts proved to be very good at holding in the heat, and over time many scouts and hunters would be thankful for direwolf coats on long, cold nights.

 


	4. Unexpected Neighbors

'I reckon it's indians they saw out there.'  
  
'Are we no in Canada? I thought that's where we'd floated to.'  
  
'Aye, but you get indians all over. Cousin with the army back in the old days said so.'  
  
'Huh. Things you learn.'  
_Overheard at the Tin Whistle public house_  
  
While occasional snow showers and high winds had been an on and off feature of the weather since the end of the Great Storm and New Edinburgh's mysterious relocation, the first major blizzard was not felt until mid June, nearly seven months later. A quick but violent affair, it rolled north at speed, and little warning was had for those outwith the city's immediate vicinity. Within the relative shelter of the crater, life went on with little disruption beyond extra shifts to clear the streets and a marginal increase in coal consumption, efforts to improve building insulation and waterproofing being proved well worth it. Outside however, was a different matter. Loch Dazelle was effectively shut down for a week by the need to clear ice buildup and repair nets and boats before resuming work, and a half dozen scouting teams were caught in the open.  
  
Even though well equipped for the cold conditions, blizzards like this one were a serious threat to isolated teams who were forced to seek out what shelter they could and set up camp as quickly as possible. One group, having reached the westernmost point of their rangings amid the foothills of the Victorias and ready to head home with new details and notes to add to the slowly expanding map of the provisionally named Nova Caledonia, would chance upon a far more important discovery. With their elevated position giving them a better vantage to track the weather, they had began their descent towards a sheltered glen they had noted earlier in the week where they could wait out the storm. On the way down, a thin trail of smoke was seen rising from their destination.  
  
While unexpected, and indeed unlikely, the possibility of another scouting party being in the area was not out of the question, and with snow already falling the men made their way with haste. It would be hard to say who was more surprised when they came upon a small party that was blatantly not connected in any way, shape or form to New Edinburgh. The people encountered wore clothing of fur and rawhide, and carried tools and primitive weapons of bronze. Lean and weathered, they understood none of the questions spoken to them in english, german or french, and used no recognisable tongue when they did speak in turn. Wary, and recognising wariness in turn, the scout leader made a fast decision on the deteriorating weather, and using gestures indicated the snowfall and a desire to share their fire and shelter, indicating that they would add to it with snow tarps, and were willing to share food and fuel in turn.  
  
Both sides kept far from the other, so much at least as the limited space allowed, but as the evening progressed to night and no hostility was shown, relations thawed. Both sides understood that surviving a blizzard trumped concern about who you did it with, and were of a pragmatic bent. The wild men, and women it was realised, were taciturn by nature, but visibly impressed by the steel tools the scouts carried on them and curious about the notebooks. The team's rifle was an unknown artifact to them. An emergency hip flask was passed round, easing tensions and loosening tongues, as is often the case. Some words were deduced with the help of drawn pictures and the universal technique of pointing and speaking slowly. The group, or the people they belonged to, were called the 'Thenn' and came from the mountains. The party had been seeking the reindeer herds returning north to guide hunters that were following behind, or would be led down. By mid-morning the next day, the skies had cleared, and once dug out the two groups parted company on cautiously amicable terms.  
  
A fortnight later, the returning band of scouts would be rapidly bounced up the chain of command as reports of their encounter spread. The presence of other people, even if they were primitives and not another group of survivors from home, raised questions of its own, but was also advised as a good sign by some of those present. If bronze age tribesmen could survive and prosper, then New Edinburgh should have far better long term prospects than had been feared. The less boundlessly optimistic countered by suggesting these people might be the end of a downward spiral from a much greater civilisation caught unawares by global cooling. Both sides could agree it added an entirely new dimension to any future plans, and that the peaceful nature of the encounter made an expedition to contact these people a viable endeavour in principle. In the short term everyone that worked outside the crater was told to keep a watch for other natives, being careful but receptive to them, and report any signs they might find.  
  
Publicly, for the information had been considered a positive discovery and released accordingly, the information was well received, the knowledge that they were not alone boosting moral and inspiring hopeful speculation on who and what else might be out there. While they were unwashed wildmen according to the stories, that was the kind of thing you apparently got abroad. Another version stated that they were from a city that had fared worse over the years and lost track of proper civilised ways, but might still have a city with all manner of useful things left abandoned. The later option was quite popular as it carried the possibility of finding yet more people from back before the Storm, and a margin of normality in this strange world they found themselves in.


	5. MacIntosh Expedition

Pendant with stylised face, white wood (unknown) with red dye (unknown), rawhide cord, 2x1 inch oval.  
_From the inventory of artifacts, MacIntosh Expedition_  
  
While it was agreed in principle that making contact with the native population could prove very useful to the city if handled right, there were considerable unknowns that had to be taken into account. Most obviously, and already encountered, was the language barrier. Nothing similar to either the phonetically spelt words written down at the time, or the scouts' handful of remembered words and phrases, resembled anything that could be found among the experts or archives of the Royal Society. Of course, they would need to do for purposes of making a first impression, but it was hardly ideal.  
  
In charge of the Expedition would be Dr Robert MacIntosh, with scout sergeant Cristane Kirk second in command, an effective if happily argumentative pairing that would spawn a lifelong friendship and professional partnership. The departure date was set for the latter part of summer to minimise the risk of poor weather in the uplands and give them time to return before winter set in. This would also provide enough time for supply teams to range ahead and deposit supply caches for them to pick up en route, minimising the weight carried for the first leg of their journey. Somewhat larger than the Alexander/McRae expedition earlier in the year, it would make good use of the experience gained in efficient cross country travel and improved maps to make good speed over the tundra to the Loch Dazelle Outpost, where they were taken across to the far shore by fishing boat.  
  
This would involve two trips, since even with provisions in place for them to pick up there was a good quantity of equipment and supplies with them in addition to the raw number of people. A day's hike after setting foot back on shore saw them at the site of their last, and largest, food drop, anything they might need beyond that would need to be sourced from the wilderness. Some conservation of supplies had already been achieved by hunting small game when possible, and it was hoped that food might be traded for once meaningful contact was made. For the purpose of exchange, and as gifts if needed to smooth the way forward, a quantity of tradable goods were being carried by the expedition members. Fishing hooks, arrowheads and small tools made of steel made up the majority, based on the reaction to the steel carried by the scouts who first encountered the Thenn, along with a few jugs of the pine based spirit the city had started to brew.  
  
The working period of the group's travels would take them west along the foothills towards the mountains proper, where they would seek out evidence of habitation and signs that might point them in a promising direction. While not openly discussed, there was a threat that across such a wide expanse of unproductive land they could potentially miss any inhabitants, or indicators of their passing, through simple bad luck. To help counter this significant issue, the planned route would take them along the same path that reindeer had been seen moving in. For the first month, it looked as though the party would fall victim to their unspoken concerns, and while the topographical notes and sketches made would be useful, it would be a poor show for the efforts and resources invested. The strong possibility did remain that the weather had obscured anything that was more than a day or so old, and with another month before they would be obliged to start back for home the team was still in a positive mindset. An encounter with a pair of dire wolves was a short lived moment of excitement, but otherwise there was little else of special note during this time. In the fifth week however, their luck changed.  
  
Figures were spotted by one of the pathfinders while scanning the treeline with binoculars, confirmed by his partner shortly after. This would put them within a hard day's hike of a provisionally noted mountain pass, which it was decided would mark the focal point of current endeavours. No further sign of the individuals spotted was found, but several days later a small group was seen heading towards the mountains with loaded sleds. The group was, as assumed, made up of hunters returning with their catch, and slowed down enough by the extra weight to be reached before sunset. Approaching in an obvious and unrushed manner in a bid to avoid the appearance of aggression, and with the riffle armed members at the back where they could cover any necessary retreat, the expedition called out to them as it neared, using what words of greeting were known. The Thenn hunters kept their weapons ready, but evidently recognised that the people approaching them were something other than they were used to encountering. The undoubted butchery of the words spoken reinforcing the unusual appearance of those shouting them, and perhaps they had even heard stories from the trackers that had sheltered with the New Edinburgh scouts during the blizzard.  
  
In previous nights' discussions, it had been agreed that the best approach would be to present themselves as traders to explain their presence, if of course enough of the native language was learned to carry out that depth of communication. Around the campfire, those members tasked with the language problem were able to add to the small lexicon available, mostly through the simple method of point, speak and repeat, as well as correcting some errors in earlier notes and overall pronunciation. The steel items laid out drew close attention, and while the trades made were likely heavily in the Thenn's favour it was an acceptable price for what was achieved. A jug of the pine spirits was also opened and added a mildly riotous edge to proceedings as the Thenn worked through it, and a new range of profanity to the linguist's notepads in the morning.  
  
As the explorers reached the endpoint of their stay in the region and returned to Loch Dazelle, they would have encounters with four more parties of Thenn, with mixed receptions but only one overtly hostile encounter. Artifacts were retrieved from the bodies of the attackers to be studied back at the city, but kept well hidden in case of souring any later encounters. The understanding of thennish grew marginally with each meeting, and a similar imbalance of trade came about each time. By the time the expedition returned to New Edinburgh winter was closing in and the focus changed to studying the fruits of their endeavour, with plans already in unofficial development for a new attempt in the spring.


	6. Another Year Over

"I claim this Land, and all its riches, in the name of Her Majesty Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen."  
_Gov.Captain Dazelle, 2/11/1891_  
  
The winter of 1891/92 would be more of a return to the old status quo than of noteworthy want and hunger. Preparations were in place to deal with the increased snowfall, and the storehouses were full after the mild weather of summer. Temperatures rarely dipped below minus 30 over the whole season, though January saw quite severe blizzards on several occasions.  
  
The Loch Dazelle Outpost was closed due to the increased activity of direwolves in their vicinity and the difficulties of continuing deliveries across such a distance under the worsening conditions. Everything that was not part of a permanent structure was packed up to be brought back to the city, one of the small boats being converted into a makeshift sleigh. The trip was an unexpectedly harrowing one, slowed down by the need to maintain a permanent watch due to the number of wolf sightings while they travelled. In a similar manner, hunting parties were kept large and well armed, a prudent decision in light of the repeated encounters they had with the large predators that hampered their work.  
  
The hothouses, in contrast, proved sufficient to the task of maintaining growing conditions over the season, with only the reduction in daylight impacting on productivity. Over and above their fine work in keeping the city fed, the gardeners and horticulturalists had been carefully tending to the seeds and cuttings brought back by the wide ranging Pioneer Corps and foraging teams. Many of the resulting seedlings were unfamiliar, but noteworthy only for the intellectual achievement of discovering a new species, wildflowers for the most part. A variety of wild strawberry was found and successfully cultivated, but proved too unproductive to maintain, being quickly overshadowed by a lingonberry seedling that had been carefully carried all the way from the Albert Forest. Everything that was brought back and reared was also tested for poisons or possible medicinal use under carefully monitored conditions, with some promising results that prompted further investigation. The Senior Consultant had made the case for prioritising this work in case of some unknown illness being passed along by the natives, the doctor having been an army surgeon and well aware of the dangers of a foreign posting.  
  
Colds and flu rose somewhat more steeply than had been common in winters past, but the combination of steady diet and well maintained heating avoided any casualties. The opposite in fact would be the case, with the birth of Grace to Jenny and Ken Dagg in early November. This would be the first birth seen since the displacement of the city, though not the first overall - that honour being held by Annie Kerr three years prior, and was subsequently paid careful attention to by the doctors and midwives. These concerns proved happily unfulfilled, the young girl being of good weight and strong voice, but following previously established procedure Jenny was kept working at the hothouses where she had spent during her pregnancy.  
  
With a number of activities temporarily halted and more hands available, a number of maintenance and overhaul projects too place now they would not infringe on other activities. Foremost was the upgrade of the stereoscopic lenses in the beacon with larger, more effective models, and a replacement of the viewing basket. On a smaller scale, the Pioneer Corps and hunter-foragers took inventory of repairs and replacements needed for their gear while they were set to secondary duties during the worst of the weather. This provided the chance for the workshops to gather feedback on the new equipment they had issued in the spring and summer, and make fine adjustments in response before the next batch was commissioned.  
  
As well as the range of projects already taking place, much was planned for the coming year ahead that would need to wait for better conditions before commencing. The start of a particularly busy period for the city, those in charge intending to make full use of the relatively mild conditions and abundant resources while they remained. A great deal of this was kept at a need-to-know basis so as to keep the population focused where they should be on the here-and-now, though some rumours did begin to circulate.  
  
When Christmas arrived, approval having been given for both a special diner and materials set aside for presents, the Gov.Captain was able to unveil a Christmas tree that had been brought in surreptitiously from the Albert Forest by scouts to much cheer and amazement by the children. Hogmanay was celebrated with a similarly festive air, aided by the generous measure of spirits handed out, and a speech was given that commended the people's efforts in the face of the upset that the city had gone through.  
  
A year after the end of the Great Storm and the relocation of New Edinburgh, an important and carefully organised event took place. With the full population of the city granted a half day off duty and gathered around the generator, the flag was raised with much ceremony and Gov.Captain Dazelle officially claimed the lands of Nova Caledonia on behalf of the British Empire, as recorded in the Archive in case of dispute. The specific wording of the document defined the claimed territory as the full extent of land mapped to a degree suitable for official international use not already claimed by a recognised sovereign state, and extended provisional Governorship of the Territory to the Gov.Captain of New Edinburgh or an official of his choice while contact remained lost with wider Empire.


End file.
